insitu is a Berlin-based collective consisting of the curators Marie Graftieaux, Nora Mayr, Gilles Neiens and Lauren Reid and was established in Autumn 2012. The name insitu refers to the team’s understanding of curatorial practice as being necessarily »in situ« in terms of cultural, social and geographic spaces. Insitu collective is interested in experimenting with curatorial formats – How can we change the behavior of visitors in an exhibition? How can the encounter with an individual artwork be re-thought?

In 2015 insitu collective was awarded the Prize for Independent Project Spaces and Initiatives by the Berlin Senate. The team has exhibited at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin and Another Space, Copenhagen, taken part in talks for Aarhus Art Weekend 2015. Insitu collective curated an exhibition at Viborg Kunsthal, Denmark, as part of Aarhus – 2017 European Capital of Culture.

Further, the insitu team initiated the Project Space Festival Berlin and directed it 2014-2015. From 2016 the project is directed with a changing management team.

Based as a project space in Berlin-Tiergarten from 2013 through mid-2017, insitu collective is now further exploring narratives within exhibitions and creating engaging scenographies without a fixed space. The collective is expanding its practice to locations of diverse forms, geographies and scales.

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Nora Mayr (1982, Austria)

Nora Mayr is an independent curator working in Berlin. After completing her studies of Communication Science and Art History at the universities of Vienna and Utrecht in 2008, she was responsible for the International Studio Programme of Künstlerhaus Bethanien Berlin for three years. Since 2012 she had been co-director of the exhibition space insitu, Berlin, as well as is a co-founder of the Project Space Festival Berlin. Amongst others she curated the following projects:’Open Lab: Irreversible Moment’ at Schering Stiftung Berlin (2016), ‘Home Stories’ at Villa 102, Frankfurt am Main (Co-curator Dr. Nicola Müllerschön 2013), ‘Kann es Liebe sein?’ at Grimmuseum, Berlin; Cercle Cité, Luxembourg; Sammlung Lenkius and Künstlerhaus Wien, Vienna (Co-curator Gilles Neiens 2012).

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Marie Graftieaux (1981, France)

From 2012, co-director of the project space insitu, Berlin and from 2012-2015, co-director of the project space Nun, Berlin (www.nun-berlin.com). Former curatorial experiences include group shows at Lage Egal, Berlin (2011), Dial at Limbus Europea, Berlin (2010). Work experiences include assistant of Management Director at Esther Schipper (2016-2017), manager at Galerija Gregor Podnar, Berlin (2008-2013), gallery assistant at Anton Kern Gallery, New York (2007), coordination of the association of the National FRAC, France (2006) and Project Coordinator at Pompidou (2005). Education: Master II of Contemporary Art Practices, Sorbonne-Paris IV.

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Local Encounters:

This program aims at introducing to you a series of local projects, with a recognized trajectory and fully engaged in the local scene. The agents invited to present their projects are key practitioners to enter in contact with the diversity of the art spheres in Berlin. The objective of these encounters is twofolded: On the one hand, they will facilitate a deeper knowledge of the cultural infrastructure of the city; on the other hand, they will provide the chance of a series of meetings in an informal atmosphere that might facilitate long time contacts.

A discussion with Ana Alenso (together with Cristina Moreno), Jesús Acevedo, and Alby Alamo. Organized by The Institute for Endotic Research

October 28, 2017 | 7 PM

SAVVY Contemporary | Plantagenstraße 31 | 13347 Berlin

Free entrance – donations welcome

Organized by The Institute for Endotic Research, ‘The Words That Are Missing’ is an inquiry into formations of language in the public sphere. The series focuses on the lack of certain words in the public arena: by way of censorship or because they are not yet there to describe new situations, or phenomena that were overlooked. One can think of the lack of words as a wys of describing precisely the new different formations of a ‘we’, the movements of people across countries, or the emergence of what was traditionally known as fascism, which now seems to take new and old shapes. At the same time, one can observe how mechanisms of censorship and euphemism make words disappear from discussions, producing an empty spot. In that sense, words are sensors that indicate emerging niches of tensions or alliances, establishing common arenas. At the same way, they can hide what cannot be said by censorship, euphemism or by one’s own self-repression. When looking at public conflicts, words are inevitably at the centre of the discussion.

Taking these points into account, practices related to narration, fiction and wording should be revisited, reappropriated and reimagined to propose new terms. The departure point of these series is embedded in the question: how to gain access to the words that are not there?

In the first gathering called ‘On (Soft) Censorship’ we will introduce a series of different cases which had happened related to art projects in Spanish institutions in Berlin. In this session we will explore how cases of imposed censorship are bound to situations of precarity, which allow techniques of censorship beyond the mere rejection of artworks in a show.

The first case is the exhibition ‘Zwischen den Paradiesen’ in 2016, curated by Cristina Moreno after being awarded a prize by the Spanish Embassy. In this show the work of the Venezuelan artist Ana Alenso was partially removed because it used a Repsol oil barrel (Repsol is the biggest Spanish oil company that operates in Venezuela). Her work deals at large with oil exploitation in her country. The second case looks at Jesús Acevedo’s campaign for the celebration of the 5th centenary of the death of Cervantes. He was commissioned a project by the Cervantes Institute for which he selected a series quotes from the oeuvre of the author. His selection worked as political mottos that can be read nowadays. The former central direction of the Cervantes Institute in Madrid cancelled the project the last minute because it “didn’t fit with the aesthetics” of the organization, against the opinion of the team of Cervantes Institute in Berlin. To complete this presentation, we invited another censored author, again by the Spanish Embassy, Alby Alamo. He was asked to pixelate parts of his video work where genitals appeared in order to keep his work in the exhibition.

Ana Alenso is a Venezuelan artist based in Berlin, Germany. Working across sculpture, photography, installation, sound and video, her current work aims to expose the dire risks in the global oil industry and financial world. Through the use of industrial materials, her work identifies critical states—situations of precariousness and tension—in a poetic register. She holds an MFA in Art in Context from the Berlin University of Arts (2015), an MFA in Media Art & Design at the Bauhaus University Weimar (2012) and a Diplom from Armando Reveron Arts University in Venezuela (2004). Her works have been exhibited at Sixty Eighth Art Institut (DK), Museo de Porreres (ES), Kinderhood & Caracas (DE), Neues Museum Weimar (DE); Nietzsche-Gedächtnishalle Weimar (DE), Ex Teresa Arte Actual (MEX); Centro Cultural Matucana-100 (CH), Museo Alejandro Otero, Espacio Monitor, Gallery Oficina#1 and Gallery Abra (VE) and other diverse locations.

Jesús Acevedo develops his work since the mid 90’s, showing his work mainly in independent spaces. His work has a conceptual and humoristic approach produced with differnt media such as video, spatial interventions, performance, drawing or writing. He has been part of different collectives projects, among them ‘Circo Interior Bruto’, where he was one of the founding members. In 2009 he moved from Madrid to Berlin, where he lives.

Alby Álamo (Las Palmas, 1977) lives and works in Berlin and Canary Islands. He is graduated in Fine Arts and holds a Master´s degree in Art Theory at the Facultad de Bellas Artes de La Laguna Tenerife. His work has been exhibited at the CAAM museum (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), Junefirst Gallery (Berlin), Centro de Arte La Regenta(Las Palmas), Guasch Coranty Painting Award (Barcelona), Gallery Dom Omladine (Beograd) or Kunstraum Dreieich (Frankfurt). As a curator he co-directs since 2015 Urlaub projects in Berlin. He has been one of the selected curators for “Area60” 2017 programm in the museum TEA Tenerife.

Elena Agudio is a Berlin based art historian and curator. Her research is focused on the sharing and exchange of knowledge and skills across disciplines and cultures. She studied Art History at the University of Venice – Ca’ Foscari and in 2010 she received her PhD in Art and Design at the University of Palermo. From 2005 to 2010 she lectured at the University Iulm of Milano and at the University of Architecture of Palermo. Since 2007 she is writing for and coordinating the direction of the Italian art magazine Art e Dossier.

She is artistic director of the non profit association AoN_a platform for Neuroscience and Art, a project in collaboration with the Medical University of Charité and The School of Mind and Brain of the Humboldt University encouraging both a dialogue and lasting cooperations between contemporary art and the cognitive sciences, for which she has been curating projects at the Deutsche Guggenheim (Berlin) and the Library of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice). http://www.association-of-neuroesthetics.org/

Since 2013 she is artistic co-director of SAVVY Contemporary, a non profit Berlin based art space founded and directed by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, where she is curating and co-curating exhibition projects, discursive programmes and series, among which – currently – Speaking Feminisms dedicated to an exploration of current feminist practices and alliances, That, Around Which The Universe Revolves investigating ryhthmanalysis and the interrelations of space and time, memory, architecture and urban space, How Does The World Breathe Now, a film screening series critically reflecting on our now and the role of art in the society, and SAVVY Funk, a radio programme and exhibition for Documenta 14.http://www.savvy-contemporary.com

She is member of SYNAPSE – The International Curators’ Network organized by the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin.
She was curator in residence at CRIS (Curatorial Residency in Stockholm) and in autumn 2017 will be at Helsinki International Curatorial Programme (HICP) organized by HIAP.

This program aims at introducing to you a series of local projects, with a recognized trajectory and fully engaged in the local scene. The agents invited to present their projects are key practitioners to enter in contact with the diversity of the art spheres in Berlin. The objective of these encounters is twofolded: On the one hand, they will facilitate a deeper knowledge of the cultural infrastructure of the city; on the other hand, they will provide the chance of a series of meetings in an informal atmosphere that might facilitate long time contacts.

The name “uqbar” was taken from a novel by the writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986). In Borges’ novel the word “uqbar” is an entry in a fictitious encyclopaedia. The word is a construct, a letter combination without meaning, used by the author in order to show how knowledge and meaning are constructed. The problem of the constitution of meaning, signification and interpretation is central to the discussion around the term of the representation. Representation in the broadest sense means a switching procedure, which functions through references and replacement, and is an integral component of each art form. The association aims at promoting contemporary art and culture, above all implementing, supporting and hosting projects, which dedicate themselves to the research and promotion of experimental, interdisciplinary artistic and cultural practices in the international context.

This program aims at introducing to you a series of local projects, with a recognized trajectory and fully engaged in the local scene. The agents invited to present their projects are key practitioners to enter in contact with the diversity of the art spheres in Berlin. The objective of these encounters is twofolded: On the one hand, they will facilitate a deeper knowledge of the cultural infrastructure of the city; on the other hand, they will provide the chance of a series of meetings in an informal atmosphere that might facilitate long time contacts.

Artist and curator Lorenzo Sandoval explores possibilities of spatial arrangement in art institutions, focusing on the potential of domestic spaces as sites for formal and informal encounters.

Lorenzo Sandoval works in the crossing points of artistic practice, curatorial processes and spatial design. He holds a B.F.A and a Masters in Photography, Art and Technology from the UPV, (Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia). Sandoval has attended international residencies in Berlin, (GlogauAIR), Portugal (Vila Nova) and in Nairobi, (Kuona Trust Studio). He was production manager of the EACC, (Espai d’Art Contemporani de Castelló) and is one of the founding members of the independent space. His ongoing project ´Mutant Matters´, produced together with the architect collective S.T.I.F.F., was commissioned by Savvy Contemporary (Berlin) and also presented at Ar / Ge Kunst (Bolzano). Sandoval publishes with Broken Dimanche Press. More: http://www.lorenzosandoval.net/

Founded by artists Carrick Bell and Michael Rocco Ruglio-Misurell in 2013, HORSEANDPONY Fine Arts is an artist-run space with the aim of providing artists, curators, and other project spaces the opportunity to extend or act outside of their existing practices.

This program aims at introducing a series of local projects, with a recognized trajectory and fully engaged in the local scene. The agents invited to present their projects are key practitioners to enter in contact with the diversity of the art spheres in Berlin. The objective of these encounters is twofolded: On the one hand, they will facilitate a deeper knowledge of the cultural infrastructure of the city; on the other hand, they will provide the chance of a series of meetings in an informal atmosphere that might facilitate long time contacts.